An electrographic imaging system for driving a single surface control electrostatic recording head has recording stylus electrodes arranged in groups with respective stylus electrodes of each group connected in parallel and control electrodes arranged adjacent respective groups of stylus electrodes so as to form electrostatic latent images on a dielectric layer of a record medium contacting the recording head. In the electrographic imaging system a first control pulse voltage is applied to selected control electrode adjacent a selected group of stylus electrodes; and then a second control pulse voltage having a different polarity is applied to the control electrode and simultaneously, a recording pulse voltage having the same polarity as the polarity of the first control pulse voltage is applied to the selected respective group of recording stylus electrodes.
